Probably not the place for this, but Percy Harvin is the highest paid player in Seattle? Great player, but when is he not injured?
This latest development and the last few pages of this thread made me think of another Simpson's clip...
He's getting 2.5M a year. They're not going to pay him 4X that much at 31. Dempsey completely effs up the MLS market. He's getting paid twice as much as Henry and Keane. It's an insane deal, and MLS should stop it from happening
There probably isn't a team out there willing to match that kind of money so I don't think he'd go anywhere.
And he'll leave to go where? Some other team that will match what CD is making? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Whew! That's a good one.
Well now Dempsey becomes just another MLS player playing on turf. I don't blame him, his family and future is secured. Will he make a difference, not really. Will he start in the World Cup, I wouldn't bet on it. Keep in mind that he disappears a lot of the times in the US games and that is playing in the EPL, now in the MLS, he just becomes another player playing in no pressure games most of the times. Even if he goes on loan in the offseason, I see him getting injured due to the change of pace. Winners in all of this? Dempsey's family which really is the most important thing. Losers? US fans, US team, Sounders, every MLS player making $35k.
Likely not but it's also possible he see's it as an opportunity to leave. Liga MX like Tijuana would be interesting.
What marketing value? He's the cat's meow to us american soccer fans, but to the other 99% of the populace he's an unknown.
Dempsey was making 7 mil plus USD with Spurs..Seattle was going to have to match that if they wanted a chance at Dempsey. I think the 41 million figure is including the transfer fee, though. Donovan will realistically never make that salary but that's the market for you.
No offense to Landon, but Landon in Heathrow or Munich airports would get attention of - American tourists. But I suspect not even a yawn from the UK tabloids; nor I suspect make half the ripple on Twitter than Clint made over last 24 hours. Now Landon and Martinez or Landon and Moyes seen in same restaurant, that would generate headlines. In the US soccer media. On other hand, Landon in Mexico City, or anywhere near a Liga MX team, and yeah for sure there the media and fans would go crazy. And sure Landon's well known - or been well known - for a long time. But let's be honest, if we spoke to a random American in the street, they will say they don't follow our type of football. Although they still may have heard of - David Beckham, Messi, and Cristiano.
When a club throws cash at a player, the player are going to take it. That is why Ghana's star striker Asamoah Gyan plays in the UAE. Drogba going to China was for the same reason. Luckily for the Ivory Coast National Team, Galatasaray was dumb enough to buy Drogba because they thought they had a chance to win the UCL. This move is going to improve Seattle's chances to win an MLS Cup and it is going to improve the image of MLS, but it is not going to improve or even help Clint Dempsey maintain his form heading into the 2014 World Cup. 2014 is probably his last WC, and a move like this is not good for his form heading into the World Cup. Even if Dempsey dominates MLS, the World Cup is played at a much higher level. He is going to need to need to be ready for that level. He might be able to turn on a switch at the international level like Donovan has been able to, but he might find it difficult. If the USA captain has trouble with that at the World Cup, advancing out of the group stage is not going to happen. Not blaming Clint at all for this move. The amount of money that he is getting paid to play in the United States is not something that a player can pass up. I also don't know why you believe that Dempsey would have not played at Spurs this year. He was a starter for the majority of the games last year, and even with the two new additions, he is in line to get enough minutes. I don't think a few months is going to change the perception of where Dempsey is in relation to the other options Spurs has. Chadli is just another unproven option like, and Soldado is more of a CF than a winger/AM. Dempsey's direct competition for playing time would have been Sigurdsson, Holtby, Chadli and Lennon. Lennon seems to be favored by AVB over all of those guys. Even if Chadli immediately took one of those spots, and relegated Dempsey to the bench, what would have been wrong with Dempsey being the first AM/winger off the bench for a club like Spurs? And if Bale ends up getting sold, there is another AM/Wing spot open. Dempsey was favored to Sigurdsson and Holtby last season. Unless Spurs signaled to him that it was going to be different this upcoming season, he would have gotten enough minutes to maintain his form at Spurs. This move could even jeopardize Dempsey's position within the starting eleven of the USMNT. We all remember what happened with the last captain who's form slipped, Klinsmann put him into retirement from the USMNT.
I've seen people say this but is it true? Any links? I seem to recall Dempsey denying it himself on twitter.
if someone gives ya 41 mill you take it but sounds absurd to me to pay much for Dempsey. that's just me. i still haven't seen a credible source for any of this and Keith Costigan twitter posts doesn't strike me as reliable.
Donovan in Club America would be special. Now Donovan winning titles with them would be legend and would confirm what they already think of him that he is a World Class player.
No, Brazilians cost real money. Dempsey's $9m transfer fee indicates he is still a cheap date compared to elite South Americans.
Actually, you are right about this...maybe that's how much he got with incentives. Though, I believe he has to hovering around the 6 million USD figure. Either way, he is getting a humongous deal from the Sounders, methinks.
What's funny is Sea can throw 41M at Clint, and they still don't allow 4 DP's at say, 500K each. It's a laughable wage structure. Can't afford to allow teams to pay 2-2.5M spread over 4-5 players, but you can afford to throw 41M at Clint. Actually, it's the opposite of parity. And, any incoming big name DP's will see what Clint got, ask for more knowing MLS actually can pay that, making it even tougher for most of MLS to bring in DP's. MLS IMO just made it more expensive to get big name DP's in the future. And they already struggle greatly to attract DP talent.
Apparently Goff is dispelling the $8 million figure. More like $4 million per year. Still a great sum.
I am playing catch up. Is this real? If so, that sucks for usmnt. I hope it's what Dempsey really wanted.